Groth beats Pella in 3 sets in 1st round of Claro Open

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) Sam Groth of Australia served 26 aces to beat Argentina's Guido Pella 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 on Wednesday and advance to the round of 16 of the Claro Open.

The sixth-seeded Australian served 11 aces in the decisive third set alone at the ATP 250 hard court tournament.

Eighth-seeded James Ward of Britain was upset by 129th-ranked Michael Berrer of Germany 6-4, 6-7 (7), 7-5 in a match in which both players served well. Berrer had 23 aces, six more than his opponent.

In other first-round matches in Colombia, Rajeev Ram of the United States defeated Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, while wild card Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia, ranked 607th in the world, beat Pere Riba of Spain 7-6 (3), 6-3.